The OFFICIAL Towns in North Jersey Discussion Thread ...

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat May 16, 2015 3:34 pm

Kid #2 had a soccer game on the U/'wood border this afternoon, and then something afterwards with my wife, so after the game I took kid #1 to the Cedar Ridge Bakery for lunch. No brisket sconewiches today, so we shared a mozzarella and tomato panini. The owners were suitably eccentric. They gave the kid a free cookie (sugar, still warm) for eating her lunch. I brought home some very, very good chocolate chip cookies. Thanks for the random rec mister d.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Mon May 18, 2015 10:37 am

Ahhhhhhh yeah!!!

Very cool place. And crossing over from the other thread, I accept them as the types to have the "World's Best Coffee" sign as fully sarcastic. There's a bunch of good signs in there if you look around.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Jun 20, 2015 8:40 am

Went back this morning and finally had a sconewich, on a Taylor ham and swiss scone. Really good. My wife really, really liked the iced coffee, and the chocolate raisin scone.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Jun 26, 2015 9:04 am

Have you been to &Grain in Fanwood? Horrific name, but they do nitro coffee (Stumptown) and really, really good pastries.

rass · Post by **rass** » Fri Aug 07, 2015 5:24 pm

Let's take the teacher/student sex out of this...

mister d wrote:
rass wrote:More NJ teacher sex.

That one is the next town over from me.
Unless something falls through in the next 2 weeks, soon to be my/our new town.

So how'd it go? Are you out of the BHetto?

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:53 am

Yup, closed last Wednesday. In South Orange until we find a place in the fall or spring market. I forgot how much I loved apartment/condo living.

rass · Post by **rass** » Sun Aug 09, 2015 12:21 pm

As my wife waffles back and forth on whether she wants to vacate the U before our oldest hits 6th grade, one of her ideas has been to rent in Maplewood. Though the last time it came up she wanted to buy a small shore house as part of same plan, so I really couldn't gauge how serious she as and took that as an opportunity to never seriously address it myself.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Sun Aug 09, 2015 8:37 pm

Oh my god we could totally be neighbors!!!!!!!

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Mon Aug 10, 2015 9:56 pm

Funny, we have good friends in Maplewood. Our two families vacation together regularly.

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Aug 11, 2015 5:44 am

mister d wrote:Oh my god we could totally be neighbors!!!!!!!

The house next door to us just went back on the market last week. It sold in 2005, just over a year after we bought ours, for $360K. The family who bought it fell apart, including the parents getting separated and the HS age kid breaking into numerous houses in our general neighborhood. The original family rented it to a very nice family (they unfortunately ended up being one of the robbery victims, and lost a lot of cash from their, yes, mattress) for years, until they were forced out last fall when the bank finally foreclosed on the original owners. It appears to be in pretty good shape. We checked over the weekend and it's on the market for $244K. We're likely well and fucked and staying put.

sancarlos wrote:Funny, we have good friends in Maplewood. Our two families vacation together regularly.

Good friends would have come and rescued you from Queens

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Aug 11, 2015 8:17 am

Easy solution is to pay $400K for the foreclosure house, driving up your house's value.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue Aug 11, 2015 7:37 pm

rass wrote:
sancarlos wrote:Funny, we have good friends in Maplewood. Our two families vacation together regularly.
Good friends would have come and rescued you from Queens

Ha ha. Actually, after I posted that story on facebook, they did jump in and ask why I didn't call them. If only I had been flying out of Newark instead of JFK that day!

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 9:09 am

If you ever catch Cedar Ridge on a raspberry cream cheese scone day, go for it. Definitely go for it.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 9:19 am

WTF, went to Ahhre's in Summit, and they are gone! Magnolia's or whatever the cafe part of the storefront is took over Ahhre's counter. So pissed, because I never seem to get to Westfield anymore.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 9:25 am

They moved across the street into the wine place.

rass · Post by **rass** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 9:28 am

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 9:29 am

mister d wrote:They moved across the street into the wine place.

Thanks for the heads up, dick. Where did the coffee counter in the wine place move? Why does that block of Springfield have coffee counters in random stores? Ahhreeeeeee's!

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 9:32 am

Why didn't you just ask someone?

(I think that coffee counter disappeared because it was garbage anyway. And Boxwood is really good but priced crazy high for the cold brew.)

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 3:34 pm

The Sybian wrote:
mister d wrote:They moved across the street into the wine place.
Thanks for the heads up, dick. Where did the coffee counter in the wine place move? Why does that block of Springfield have coffee counters in random stores? Ahhreeeeeee's!

That's more of a Shelbyville kind of thing, isn't it?

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 12:16 pm

Took the back route to the liquor store because it is Saturday afternoon and traffic stinks, but I finally tried a place I've been meaning to go to for awhile.

It's basically a shack on a little access road, with some outdoor seating. Got a BLT since I was sharing with one of my kids, and other than her ripping apart her half to remove the T and dab off the mayo with a napkin, it was great. I need to go back and try something with apples.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 9:13 pm

rass wrote:Took the back route to the liquor store because it is Saturday afternoon and traffic stinks, but I finally tried a place I've been meaning to go to for awhile.

It's basically a shack on a little access road, with some outdoor seating. Got a BLT since I was sharing with one of my kids, and other than her ripping apart her half to remove the T and dab off the mayo with a napkin, it was great. I need to go back and try something with apples.

Awesome, I totally need to check this place out. I'll have to time a Total Wine trip around lunch. We need more of these threads centered around geographical proximity.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 9:16 pm

The gelato they show on their site (Lickt) is opening up shop right across from Cedar Ridge.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:59 pm

Able Baker: Almond cupcake, chocolate ganache, espresso icing

A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 1:02 pm

The Sybian wrote:
rass wrote:Took the back route to the liquor store because it is Saturday afternoon and traffic stinks, but I finally tried a place I've been meaning to go to for awhile.

It's basically a shack on a little access road, with some outdoor seating. Got a BLT since I was sharing with one of my kids, and other than her ripping apart her half to remove the T and dab off the mayo with a napkin, it was great. I need to go back and try something with apples.
Awesome, I totally need to check this place out. I'll have to time a Total Wine trip around lunch. We need more of these threads centered around geographical proximity.

Total Wine is fucking awesome. They just finally opened one in my hood (I previous drove 7 or 8 miles to the closest one.)

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 1:14 pm

mister d wrote:Able Baker: Almond cupcake, chocolate ganache, espresso icing

A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We went through a phase pre-kids where we went to St James Gate pretty regularly. I haven't been to Maplewood Village in a couple of years probably, and I don't think I've ever walked past the bank anyway. Is that place relatively new?

cerrano · Post by **cerrano** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 3:15 pm

brian wrote:
The Sybian wrote:
rass wrote:Took the back route to the liquor store because it is Saturday afternoon and traffic stinks, but I finally tried a place I've been meaning to go to for awhile.

It's basically a shack on a little access road, with some outdoor seating. Got a BLT since I was sharing with one of my kids, and other than her ripping apart her half to remove the T and dab off the mayo with a napkin, it was great. I need to go back and try something with apples.
Awesome, I totally need to check this place out. I'll have to time a Total Wine trip around lunch. We need more of these threads centered around geographical proximity.
Total Wine is fucking awesome. They just finally opened one in my hood (I previous drove 7 or 8 miles to the closest one.)

total wine's bourbon selection leaves a little to be desired compared to WL. but their beer selection is consistently strong. especially the seasonals and big bottles that are my go-to between november and march.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 3:29 pm

cerrano wrote:
brian wrote:
The Sybian wrote:
rass wrote:Took the back route to the liquor store because it is Saturday afternoon and traffic stinks, but I finally tried a place I've been meaning to go to for awhile.

It's basically a shack on a little access road, with some outdoor seating. Got a BLT since I was sharing with one of my kids, and other than her ripping apart her half to remove the T and dab off the mayo with a napkin, it was great. I need to go back and try something with apples.
Awesome, I totally need to check this place out. I'll have to time a Total Wine trip around lunch. We need more of these threads centered around geographical proximity.
Total Wine is fucking awesome. They just finally opened one in my hood (I previous drove 7 or 8 miles to the closest one.)
total wine's bourbon selection leaves a little to be desired compared to WL. but their beer selection is consistently strong. especially the seasonals and big bottles that are my go-to between november and march.

They have the best Scotch selection locally. Assuming WL is Wine Library, their Scotch selection sucks.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 3:44 pm

Not sure the last time you've been to Wine Library, but its garbage now. On their 2nd buyer since the guy who made it really great 2 years ago but its a combination of way too much empty fridge space and beer you can get anywhere.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 6:55 pm

Pretty sure Able is new, like last 2-3 years. It's wonderful, definitely worth a trip.

Whole Foods bar is now reinvented as a barbecue place. Smells good, menu looks good but just having a beer (Kane) tonight. Don't like that I only recognize one person working; it would be shitty if they dumped the old staff.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:45 pm

I told my wife that the Swamp-guy who recommended Cedar Ridge recommended a bakery in Maplewood called Able's, and she and my youngest have been there. The latter loved the espresso icing, too.

They love a place called Edo's in Maplewood, too. It's on Springfield Ave, and the owner is super nice. I've only ever had birthday cakes, and they've been very good.

howard · Post by **howard** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:37 pm

No wonder your governor is so obese.

cerrano · Post by **cerrano** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 11:40 pm

mister d wrote:Not sure the last time you've been to Wine Library, but its garbage now. On their 2nd buyer since the guy who made it really great 2 years ago but its a combination of way too much empty fridge space and beer you can get anywhere.

sorry. i meant total wine's beer selection is strong. it is so disappointing when i go there and see that empty fridge space. you're right, that first buyer (i think his name was brett or brant) really knew his shit, and it hasn't been the same since.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:16 am

Graham. I may have had his card then googled his name trying to see if he went somewhere else local.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:00 am

cerrano wrote:
mister d wrote:Not sure the last time you've been to Wine Library, but its garbage now. On their 2nd buyer since the guy who made it really great 2 years ago but its a combination of way too much empty fridge space and beer you can get anywhere.
sorry. i meant total wine's beer selection is strong. it is so disappointing when i go there and see that empty fridge space. you're right, that first buyer (i think his name was brett or brant) really knew his shit, and it hasn't been the same since.

That sucks, I haven't been is a while. They used to have a small section, but I always found a bunch of beers I'd never seen before. Always some unusual European stuff, too. I hope they still carry Courage Russian Imperial Stout, I can't recall finding it anywhere else.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:12 pm

Since you guys all suck and aren't going to the Garden State Brewfest, have you heard about the Food Truck Rock Carnival?

Saturday, Sept 19th in Clark: At least 20 craft breweries on hand, some of the best. A huge music lineup (if it was 1993), and over 40 food trucks. WWE wrestlers, including Hacksaw Jim Duggan. HHHHOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Slash, Stone Temple Pilots, Skid Row, Anthrax, LA Guns, Godsmack, Lita Fucking Ford! Lita Ford is still alive! And carnival rides for the kids and a bunch of other shit.

Post by **brian** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 10:27 pm

You guys almost make living in New Jersey sound bearable.

cerrano · Post by **cerrano** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 4:46 pm

mister d wrote:Graham. I may have had his card then googled his name trying to see if he went somewhere else local.

i think he and his wife were transplants from the west coast here for her post-graduate education. i don't think they were particularly rooted to jersey. his "road to damuscus" moment was at the stone brewery if i recall correctly.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 5:25 pm

Jeez, and I thought I was a little too into that guy.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 10:01 pm

cerrano wrote:
mister d wrote:Graham. I may have had his card then googled his name trying to see if he went somewhere else local.
i think he and his wife were transplants from the west coast here for her post-graduate education. i don't think they were particularly rooted to jersey. his "road to damuscus" moment was at the stone brewery if i recall correctly.

Damn, I just look at all the bottles and buy some. I need to dig deeper into the buyers' origin stories and career arcs.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:46 am

Kane Brewing Company
If everything goes as planned the first Head High cans should be released sometime in October. Physical proofs of the cans just arrived and they look great. Now on to the full scale production run: 24 pallets or 150,000 cans.